The Fly Yogi
Tonya M. Smith
Yoga Instructor
Yoga Instructor
GET TO KNOW ME
When I first discovered yoga in 2011, I was initially taken aback by the lack of diversity in every class that I attended. The struggle to overcome that highly exclusive image of yoga is REAL y'all and I had to seriously consider if yoga could be my “thing.” But, I continued to show up…week after week and before long, I was hooked and decided to explore yoga beyond the walls of my local gym. One day, I wandered into a Bikram yoga studio to redeem a Groupon special and to my surprise, the owners looked like me -- and the seed to teach was sown!
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Fast forward a few years, and again, I found myself struggling with the lack of diversity in my teacher training. In fact, I spent the first few weeks wondering if I’d made the right choice…wondering if I belonged. Then one day, it occurred to me that I had both a right and a responsibility to occupy yoga spaces. Yoga had transformed my life in ways that I could never have imagined and the whole point of teacher training was to share this practice with as many people as I could reach. I had to be the change that I wanted to see. So, I persisted…and now I get to fulfill my personal legend.
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